NATO states placed big hopes on a long-scheduled Sept. 21 telephone call between authoritarian Russian leader Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart President Donald J. Trump, as a make-or-break moment for peace in Ukraine and security and stability in Europe.
On Sept. 2 Trump let pass without action a 50-day deadline giving Russia the choice of of agreeing to Ukraine ceasefire or facing US sanctions. Following that reprieve, on Sept. 8 the US leader threatened “tougher sanctions” on Russia.
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On Sept. 7 the Kremlin hit Ukraine with 823 attack drones – the most in a single strike in the entire war – and 13 missiles. The attacks killed four civilians. The next day the US President told White House reporters “I am not happy with the Russian strikes on Ukraine.”
The phone call was the US President’s first official contact with the Kremlin boss since the pair met face-to-face in Alaska in August.
According to Trump, he spoke with the former KGB spy Putin for 45 minutes in a “very productive” discussion, which Trump said left open a chance for peace.
On Sept. 23, Trump, in a TruthSocial post, declared to followers that Ukraine was now “in a position to fight and win all of Ukraine back in its original form,” that the Russian inability to defeat Ukraine “was not distinguishing Russia… Making them look like a paper tiger.”
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The violations also include “torture, ill-treatment, denial of fair trial rights, and unsafe detention and transfer conditions.”
Russian military actions during the Trump diplomatic offensive have been consistently aggressive and arguably insulting, a Kyiv Post review of recent security incidents in the NATO region and Ukraine found.
NOTE: All Russian military flights approaching or entering NATO airspace and listed here were reportedly flown with transponders turned off and without filing a flight plan. Counts of Russian bomb, missile, and drone attacks were published by the Ukrainian military.
Friday, Sept. 19
NATO: Three Russian MiG-31 fighter-bombers violate Estonian airspace for about twelve minutes; NATO forces scramble and intercept. Two Russian fighter aircraft, type unidentified, buzz a Polish oil drilling rig in the Baltic.
Ukraine: Russia launches massed drone strike against targets inside Ukraine with 86 lethal UAVs. Russian tactical air forces conduct 55 aerial attacks, dropping 98 guided bombs.
Saturday, Sept. 20
Ukraine: Russia launches one of the biggest mass strikes against Ukraine of the war, with 579 strike drones, 8 ballistic missiles, and 32 cruise missiles, primarily targeting Kyiv, Mykolaiv, and Dnipro, killing at least three and injuring at least 36.
Sunday, Sept. 21
NATO: German Air Force Eurofighter Typhoons scramble to intercept a Russian Il-20M reconnaissance aircraft that entered neutral airspace over the Baltic Sea. One Il-20 conducts two low-level passes over a German navy frigate.
Ukraine: Russia launches drone strikes against Ukraine with 54 weapons. Russian tactical air forces over the previous 24 hours conducted 94 aerial attacks, dropping 191 guided bombs. One person was killed by a bomb in the Kharkiv region.
Monday, Sept. 22
NATO: Drones of unknown origin spotted near Copenhagen and Oslo airport forcing flight diversions and air defense activity.
The UK, Poland, and Estonia at a UN Security Council meeting formally accuse Russia of reckless military behavior. The Russian ambassador calls the accusations “hysteria.”
Ukraine: Russia launches mass drone attacks against targets inside Ukraine with 141 weapons. The Russian Air Force, over the previous 24 hours, launched 67 aerial attacks, dropping 136 glide bombs. The target focus is in the Donetsk and Zaporizhia regions. Bombs kill three in the Zaporizhzhia region, two in the Donetsk region.
Tuesday, Sept. 23
Ukraine: Russia launches mass drone strikes against targets inside Ukraine with 115 weapons. Russian tactical air forces, over the previous 24 hours, conducted 31 aerial attacks, dropping 55 guided bombs. Russian bomb kills one in the Zaporizhzhia region.
Wednesday, Sept. 24
NORAD: Two Russian Tu-95 bombers escorted by 2 Su-35 air superiority fighters approach US airspace in the Alaskan ADIZ (air defense identification zone); met by US Air Force assets, including one E-3 Sentry AWACS already airborne and on station conducting a routine flight.
As the Russian aircraft approached Alaska, four F-16Cs and four KC-135 air refueling tankers on quick reaction alert were scrambled, likely anticipating the oft-repeated Russian rendezvous with the US fighters operating as part of NORAD, the Combined US-Canadian North American Defense Command. The F-16s conducted the routine intercept and visual identification (VID), and the Russians depart without entering US or Canadian airspace.
NATO: Two Russian Su-35 air superiority fighters execute, without warning, a low-altitude flyby (within 50 meters) of a British destroyer in the Black Sea. NATO’s Joint Force Command Naples reports Russian jamming of Atlantic Alliance forces in the vicinity and calls the Russian actions “an unacceptable escalation.”
Drones spotted in vicinity of Aalborg joint-use civilian/military airport in Denmark.
Russian Ambassador to France Alexei Meshkov states that any NATO shoot-down of a Russian aircraft, even over alliance airspace, would trigger “immediate war.”
Ukraine: Russia launches mass drone strikes against targets inside Ukraine with 152 weapons. The Russian Air Force, over the previous 24 hours, conducted 53 aerial attacks, dropping 105 glide bombs. The target focus was on the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions.
Thursday, Sept. 25
NATO: Five Russian fighter planes (one Su-30, one Su-35, three MiG-31s) approach Latvian airspace; NATO forces scramble and intercept.
Drone or drones spotted in the vicinity of Aalborg, Billund, Skrydstrup, Esbjerg, Sønderborg, Holstebro military airports; Danish officials say it was a hybrid warfare operation conducted “professionally.”
Drone or drones spotted in the vicinity of Mourmelon-le-Grand military facility, Marne region, France, officials said an investigation was in progress.
Overnight into Friday
Ukraine: Russia launches massed drone strikes against targets inside Ukraine with 176 weapons. Russian forces conduct air strikes. The Russian Air Force, over the previous 24 hours, launched 38 aerial attacks with 71 glide bombs. The focus was on the Kherson and Sumy regions.
Ukrainian air defense forces shoot down a Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber conducting an air strike against Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region.
Friday, Sept. 26
NATO: Drones spotted in the vicinity of Aalborg airport, report not confirmed by midday.
Ukraine: Russia launches mass drone strike with 154 weapons, hitting the Sumy and Dnipropetrovsk regions, targeting rail and energy infrastructure. A seven-ship of Su-34 fighter-bombers hit Kherson city with glide bombs, 70 homes and 11 apartment buildings damaged.
The Ukrainian Air Force had not yet made public the overall air assault and glide bomb counts for the day when this article was published.
